Oct. 7, 2004

How they spent their summer vacation

by ELLIN BELTZ

AS FALL DRIZZLES IN, A MARVELOUS
PRODUCTION of On Golden Pond opens the Ferndale Repertory
Theatre's 33rd season. This award-winning play was written by
Ernest Thompson and adapted by him for both film and television.
As the play opens, an elderly couple arrives at their summer home at the lake to begin their 48th year
of watching the loons, battling the bugs and chatting with their
mailman and each other.

[Marilyn McCormick
and Lance Dickson. Photo by Dan Tubbs.]

Cantankerous and physically
frail, Norman Thayer (Lance Dickson) is an 80-year-old retired
professor with all the prejudices and affectations of someone
accustomed to being on a platform with an audience in rapt attention.
His wife, Ethel (Marilyn McCormick), 10 years his junior, specializes
in politely and impolitely taking him down a notch whenever he
gets too high in the clouds. She also tries to reconcile Norman
with his daughter, Chelsea (Marilyn Foote), whom he criticizes
unmercifully -- still remembering her as a chubby child and complaining
about everything she said or did.

Their mailman (John Olson) has
had a crush on Chelsea since they were both children. Poignantly
he pesters Ethel to read Chelsea's latest letter, only to find
out that she will be coming for her first visit in eight years,
bringing a new boyfriend, Bill Ray (Jim Buschmann), a high-priced
Mercedes-driving Los Angeles dentist.

When Chelsea and Bill arrive,
they also bring Bill's 13-year-old son, Billy (Daniel McBride).
At opposite ends of life's journey, the boy's practical teenage
attitude and hip-hop vocabulary are more than a match for Norman's
choleric outlook on what little life may be left to him. Over
the summer, the presence of the youngster revitalizes the old
man; they spend all their time fishing and talking about good
books.

Every actor in this play is
a delight to watch. Dickson's metamorphosis from an aging near-invalid
to a reinvigorated man of purpose when challenged by his surrogate
grandson is marvelously subtle and punctuated by a wonderful
"hmmm" that will have you smiling whenever he hums
it. McCormick is neither as old nor as frail as she looks. She
plays the devoted outdoors woman married to a bookish man afraid
to get lost in the woods. You can feel her love, excitement,
happiness, impatience and fear all the way to row Q. She projects
a loving tolerance of a man few could take for long, leavened
with a lifetime of being second fiddle to his ego.

We've all known people who regress
to adolescence the minute their parents are around. Foote captures
this perfectly in her portrayal of the lost girl who can't grow
up until she and her father are at peace with each other. Buschmann
is at his finest when, as the polite new boyfriend, he won't
tolerate Dickson's dominating attempt at male bonding. He grows
some spine and establishes his equality in the relationship in
a deft little scene of life in the pecking order. Olsen's bear-like
presence and repeated exclamation "Holy Mackinoley!"
could so easily become a caricature that it was a pleasure to
watch him create a human dimension from such limited material.
McBride is a brilliant teenage foil for Dickson's physical and
verbal humor. It's hard to play the straight man especially at
a young age, but McBride manages it with deft timing and a keen
sense of humor.

Director Renee Grinnell, set
designer Daniel L. Lawrence, light designer Jessie Talbert, and
stage manager Shannan Dailey all deserve praise for a technically
flawless production. Art from the Hart gallery in the Rep usually
features art that "goes along with the show." I had
trouble figuring out the connection between the lovely paintings
of local scenery by talented artist Leslie R. Fergusen until
I realized that she's married to equally talented set designer
and actor Dan Lawrence, who is also KHUM's "Digital Dan."

Performances continue Thursday,
Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.,
through Oct. 23. Thursday, Oct. 21, is Actor's Benefit Night
where proceeds from the show go to the cast and crew. For reservations
and information call 786-5483 or visit www.ferndale-rep.org.
The Ferndale Repertory Theatre is located at 447 Main St., Ferndale.

ELSEWHERE

Kicking off its 30th season,
Dell'Arte presents The Golden State, a raucous, sexy farce
inspired by Molière's comic gem, The Miser. Opening
night at the Carlo Theatre is Friday, Oct. 8; the show runs Oct.
9-10, and Oct. 14-17 at 8 p.m. For tickets or more information,
call 668-5663 or visit www.dellarte.com.